Immortals
by Danny vs A Month
Summary: Kakuzu has returned with an upgrade. He's now a god. And he's put Hidan back together again. Now, it's up to the world's favorite genin and his friends to stop this evil god from resurrecting the demon Moryo and destroying Konoha. Why do they always want to destroy Konoha? Can Naruto and his friends stop them? And will they all make it back?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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1

The darkness was crushing. Suffocating. Boring. He wanted out. He wanted to stretch bis legs. He wanted to kill. He wanted to do a ritual before Jashin decided he had outlived his usefullness.

Strangely enough, for a guy obsessed with making money and who knew tagteaming was their best weapon, Kakuze sure was taking his sweet time to rescue Hidan. Hidan had forgotten what time of day it was when he was trapped but he had long lost track of time anyway. He had dozed off a dozen times so it could have been days. He was starting to get hungry to, but thanks to his ability, that could mean he had hours or years left before he died or starvation.

Suddenly, the dirt above him shifted, producing a loud grinding roar. It happened again. Then, the roar began again, this time continuous but quieter. Something began to wrap around his pieces, and pull them out and Hidan grinned.

 _About fucking time,_ Hidan thought.

Finally his head was pulled from the ground, allowing him to see Kakuzu using his cords individually as tentacles, a new trick. Hidan's head was stitched back knto his reconstructed body, which looked similar to Kakuzu's own now, minus the chords extending from Kakuzu's back.

"You've gotten better," Hidan smirked. "Never seen you use them like that before. What took you so long? And you'd better have a good reason Kakuzu."

"You should watch your tone," Kakuzu stated, voice as emotionless as his completely red eyes.

"Say what!?" Hidan spat.

"You are a truly annoying creature," Kakuzu continued. "You do that which you are commanded but you are obsessed with pain and killing now. It is entertaining, that is true, but it means that I have to ensure my gift to you does not wear out. Normally that's not a problem, but now you have found the one enemy that may be a problem. Both to my future bost and to my plans."

"What the hell are you rambling about now Kakuzu?" Hidan demanded, pulling his spear from the rubble beside himself.

"You and I are going to destroy Konohagakure," Kakuzu said simply. "Oh, and I'm not Kakuzu."

He raised his hand and cords wou d and wove themselves together, forming a pitch black, three-bladed scythe with a skull at the base of each blade and a massive braid of cords leaving the base and extending into a point in his back, as Hidan had carried his. Then, Kakuzu swung the weapon, slamming the blades into the ground and shattering it, throwing Hidan back.

As the dust settled, Hidan looked up at Kakuzu and only now understood.

"Lord Jashin," Hidan breathed, awestruck.

"Go get your scythe Hidan," Jashin ordered. "It is time this world was reminded of my power."

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	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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2

The siren screamed. People were sprinting around, trying to get to cover as Shinobi flashed overhead. After a moment, a woman screamed. Within seconds, the Konoha morgue was swarming with shinobi. Naruto arrived first and surveyed the gruesome sight as Kakashi and Yamato arrived. Shizune was examining several corpses as Shion, priestess of the Land of Ogres, and clearly the one who had screamed, cowered in the corner. The reason was quite obvious. The "corpses" had been flayed wide open, exposing literally everything and spraying their blood around the room. Bits and pieces also lay scattered about, making it something out of a horror movie.

"Ah, I'm glad you're hear Kakashi," Tsunade spoke up from off to one side where she was examining several gashes in the wall.

"What...happened in here?" Kakashi asked just as the Konoha 11 arrived, along with Sai.

"They were fighting Kakuzu, definitely, but the wounds and the damage to the walls were from a three-bladed scythe," Shizune spoke up.

"Hidan?" Shikamaru blinked. "But, that's impossible. He's still trapped in that pit."

"Then we need to be sure," Tsunade stated. "Kakashi, take Yamato and Yugao Uzuki and go make sure he hasn't escaped."

"Right," Kakashi nodded, leaving with Yamato as Sakura stepped into the room, covering her mouth as she saw the room for the first time.

"Shikamaru, I need you, Ino, and Choji to train our shinobi to kill these two," Tsunade stated and Shikamaru nodded, leaving with the other two. "Sakura, you'll be helling Shizune here."

"O-Okay," Sakura stammered, feeling sick to her stomach.

"I have a question," Naruto spoke up. "If the damage was from a scythe, how do you know that it was Kakuzu?"

"Because the body is gone along with all of the victims' hearts," Shizune explained. "So far as we knkw, Hidan has no interest in hearts because he is immortal. Kakuzu, on the other hand, needs them for both his own life and his jutsus. Therefore, it's safe to assume that he was involved."

"I see," Naruto nodded. "So what's my role in all of this? You didn't make it sound like I'd be tracking this guy away like I should be."

"You aren't," Tsunade stated. "Without your Rasenshuriken, you can't fight him. Besides, you're going to be guarding Shion. A cult that has risen recently that worshils Moryo wants Shion dead and has put a high price on her head for that reason. Since Kakuzu's primary mission in the Akatsuki was to collect bounties, it makes sense that he would be after her. So you're going to keep her safe, along with Neji, Lee, Tenten, and Hinata.

"I see," Naruto nodded, staring at the ground. "I suppose that makes sense. Where are we taking her?"

"Suna," Tsunade stated. "I believe Gaara's abilities will come in handy, don't you?"

Naruto nodded slowly. Then, he silently took his leave. Tsunade blinked in surprise and looked to the others who all looked just as surprised as her.

"What's with him?" Tsunade asked. "He didn't even put up a fuss about not fighting."

"He's been really moody and...reserves, I guess, lately," Sakura stated. "I wish I could help but I don't even know what's wrong."

"Really?" Tsunade asked and all but one shook their head.

"You mean none of you know?" Hinata asked, voice quiet and filled with sympathy. "It's Naruto's birthday tomorrow."

Everyone stared at her in shock for a moment before Tsunade returned to what she had been doing. They all took it as a silent dismissal and left. Neji, Lee, and Tenten went to the main gate while Hinata went back to her house for Naruto's gift then to find him.

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	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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3

Hinata stepped out from behind the tree and her face fell. Naruto was in the center of Training Ground 3, surrounded by wooden targets with a mix of his picture and pictures of families on them. On some targets, he had carved, "PARENTS", others, "FAMILY", some, "LOVE".

Naruto was using everything from kunai to Rasengans to destroy the targets. Finally, he spun hurling a kunai with wind chakra straming through itat the final picture, his picture of the original team 7. The kunai cut through the target and split the image of Naruto in half.

Hinata walked forward as Naruto sank to his knees in tears. As she neared him, he began to hastily wipe his face, but she knelt beside him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"You don't have to feel alone," Hinata whispered. "You have friends. You have all of us now. We'll be your family. We'll be there whenever you need us."

Naruto remained still, and Hinata made no move to leave. After a moment, Naruto stood and held out his hand.

"We need to leave right?" Naruto asked, forcing a smile.

Hinata also forced a smile and nodded. Then, she took his hand and stood, picking up his present as she did. She held it out and Naruto stared at it then smiled and took it. It was a perfectly cubic box with ramen themed wrapping paper and a big orange bow on top. The tag read, "To: Naruto From: Hinata", and there was a card attatched. Naruto took hold of the card but stopped. After a moment, he tsmiled and tucked the present under his arm, deciding to wait until his birthday.

"Thank you Hinata," Naruto smiled. "I can't wait to open it But we better go before they leave us behind."

Hinata smiled and nodded and the two of them left to meet up with the others.

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	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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4

Naruto landed on the branch at the front and held up a hand. The seriousness of the threat had even Naruto being serious. The others stopped, seeing Naruto's signal and waited silently, Shion on Hinata's back as the others formed a perimeter around them with Lee beside them.

"What is it?" Neji asked.

"What do the cultists wear?" Naruto asked.

"Black cloaks with a red cross on the chest and a blacj face mask with pointed teeth designs," Shion stated.

"Thought so," Naruto nodded. "This way."

He steered them to the right, then back left. After a few more sharp turns, Neji stopped with Naruto beside him and the others stopped behind them.

"Now what?" Hinata asked them.

"No luck," Naruto growled.

"Nope," Neji agreed. "What do you think? Circle back again?"

"Circle back?" Tenten asked. "We went in a circle?"

"I doubt it would work," Naruto sighed. "The cultists are shinobi and are tracking us. I was hoping we could lose them by crossing our trails but it didn't work. So, plan A or B?"

"We don't know their strength," Neji stated. "Plan A for now. We can retreat later if need be."

Naruto nodded, grinning at Lee as he drew a pair of kunai. Lee nodded, readying himself as the others did the same. After several minutes of nothing happening, Naruto was very tense. Then, a cultist fell from the leaves above them at him. Naruto raised his kunai just in time to block the cultist's own knife, a jagged piece of metal with leather around the base for a grip. Naruto shoved the knife aside jut as the cultist's foot crashed into his face. Neji stepped forward to aid Naruto just as the tree he was on exploded, smoke, flames, and wood debris enveloping him. A hand exploded out of the ground, grabbing Sakura's leg and dragging her under the ground.

"Help them!" Shion shrieked.

"Why?" Lee grinned.

A moment later, the ground exploded where Sakura had been dragged under, revealing Sakura, holding a now dead cultist by the throat. Neji sprinted out of the cloud of smoke and caught his cultist by the arm and jabbed him in the throat, liquifying it before performing a Rotation, the cultit's face smashing into the tree each time around. Shion looked to Naruto to see his cultist on the ground with a kunai in the back of his skull.

"We've got this handled," Naruto promised.

No sooner had the words left his mouth did cords shoot out of the ground, wrapping around his limbs.

"He's here?" Neji shouted just as the same happened to the others, Shion being dragged into the air as a cultist broke free from the ground, cords leaving his body everywhere and binding Naruto and his friends.

"I hope this works," Naruto growled, forming a massive Rasengan that was spinning the opposite direction.

The moment it made contact with cords, they were dragged into it, pulling them off of Naruto and allowing him to take several steps toward the cultist before more cords wrapped around him. The cords binding Shion and Lee were caught and dragged off of them and Lee caught Shion.

"Run!" Naruto ordered and Lee vanished less than a second before more cords shot through the space he had occupied.

The cultist shouted in rage seconds before the Rasengan exploded. The explosion made the cultist throw Naruto's friends but Naruto himself was caught up in the blast. His hand was severely burned and the forearm of his jacket was ruined. He staggered away, falling to his knees as Neji charged at the cultist and Tenten used a hail of shuriken to clear the way. Hinata appeared beside Naruto, picking him up and leaping into the air as tentacles tried to grab him. Naruto dropped a kunai with paper bombs into the mass of cords and it exploded, destroying the cords but also blasting Naruto's arm again, muscle exposed in some places now, and launched him and Hinata into a massive tree branch. Both fell but Neji was able to catch Hinata. Naruto, on the other hand, bounced off the ground.

Sakura arrived and quickly healed the two broken ribs Naruto had but before she could heal him he stirred.

"Go," Naruto spoke up. "Get Shion to Suna. I'll catch up."

"I'll stay with him," Hinata offered. "I have some training in medical ninjutsu so I can tend to his wounds and we'll catch up."

Neji nodded and left with Sakura and Tenten. Hinata began to heal Naruto's arm, making only moderate progress due to burns being difficult to heal. She put burn ointment on what she couldn't heal and wrapped his arm in a type of gauze specifically meant to help with burns then moved on to the numerous broken bones he had gotten when he landed, including his neck.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked after a while in silence.

"I should be asking you that," Hinata stated. "After all, you saved us from those tentacles."

"You mean you saved me," Naruto corrected. "Thank you."

Hinata blushed and shook her head.

"You saved us all," Hinata stated. "I was practically useless. I couldn't even see them with my Byakugan."

"Neither could Neji," Naruto informed her. "We're not sure why. And you're very far from useless Hinata."

Hinata blushed even more and smiled as she finished healing him. Naruto sat up, flexing and moving his arm, marvelling at how little pain he felt. With his speed, he could easily catch up with Neji and the others halfway between the edge of the trees and Sunagakure. But Hinata was clearly exhausted from the strain of healing Naruto. Clearly using medical ninjutsu took a lot more energy than he originally believed.

"Rest," Naruto smiled spreading clones through the trees as lookouts then pulling Hinata into his lap, wrapping her arms around her.

And just like that, she fainted.

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	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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5

Naruto stood, pulling Hinata up and then turned toward Suna.

"Sorry, but we better move," Naruto apologized. "It'll be ark soon. I'd rather not still be here."

Hinata nodded and they began to run. After a few minutes, Naruto sent out clones to form a perimeter around them. After a few hours, it began to get dark, much faster than Naruto expected. They stopped and Naruto sent out clones to form a perimeter around them.

"Ret Hinata," Naruto smiled. "You're tired. I can see it. Rest for now. Tomorrow we'll reach the edge of the trees, probably by noon, then we will be able to watch for ambushes."

Hinata nodded and lay down. Naruto formed his clones into a circle around them then sat beside her. After a moment, she glanced back at him then back in front of herself.

"Can't sleep?" Naruto asked.

"No," Hinata admitted. "Not after earlier. I couldn't see him,or any of the others."

"I know," Naruto nodded. "Neji had the same problem."

Hinata stared at him for a moment then turned back around.

"I won't let you be hurt, Hinata," Naruto promised. "I swear I'll protect you. I will get you home safe."

Hinata blushed lightly but nodded and smiled. She closed her eyes but still sleep eluded her. No matter what she did, all she could see was Naruto being caught in an explosion and bouncing off the ground. Fear of what would happen if they were ambushed again began to grow inside her. Naruto could tell she was afraid and shifted closer, pulling her head onto his lap and beginning to gently stroke her hair. She turned crimson but felt the fear being replaced by a sense of security as he continued. Finally, she drifted off and Naruto stopped, watching her sleep for a bit.

A strange peace came over him as he sat there. All of the pain, anxiety, and fear he had been suppressing faded. He smiled to himself and looked around. Everything was quiet, except for the occasional sound of forest animals like owls or bats. After a moment, Naruto looked up, staring at the millions of stars twinkling above him.

"Beautiful aren't they?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Naruto agreed, smiling down at her. "But you're supposed to be asleep."

"I know," Hinata sighed, sitting up and smiling sheepishly. "But, there was something I wanted to do first."

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

Hinata began to slowly in in until...

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Naruto's eyes snapped open and he froze, keeping himself from jerking and waking Hinata. She was still asleep in his lap. It had been a dream. He must have drifted off at some point, but he didn't know exactly when.

Naruto gently set Hinata down and leapt into the trees where a clone was stationed for reports. It informed him that absolutely nothing had happened all night and Naruto returned to Hinata, sitting down and looking up at the blue sky overhead. Emotions and thoughts of his dream swirled around in his head. After a few minutes of trying to sort through them, and failing, Naruto finally forced them away.

He stood and got rid of all of the evidence of their presence. Once finished, he picked up Hinata and began to head toward Suna. Just as he reached the edge of the trees, hinata stirred, looking around in confusion. After a moment, she realized who was carrying her and calmed as he set her on her feet.

"Sorry about the scare, I figured I'd let you sleep in a bit," Naruto smiled, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's okay, but you should have woken me," Hinata said. "You need to use your arm as little as possible until i heals."

"I'm fine," Naruto said starting to raise his wounded arm but stopping as pain flared in it, making him wince.

"No you're not," Hinata said, noticing him wince and starting to heal his army, starting by blocking the pain.

After a minute, she stopped and sighed. Naruto began to dig some lunch out of his pack and gave some to Hinata before pulling out a rice ball for himself. As they ate, they watched a massive wall of sand with storm clouds over it in the distance.

"Will that be a problem?" Hinata asked.

"Probably," Naruto sighed. "The only shelter is a cave halfway. The storm will reach it about the same time as us."

"We better hurry then," Hinata stated.

Naruto nodded and they ran toward Suna, and the storm. It was a long way over open ground that was easy to bury something in. As they ran, Naruto drew a pair of kunai and Hinata tensed.

"Just a precaution," Naruto promised as a thin cloud of dust enveloped them and the wind began to pick up. "Shit, too soon."

Hinata looked up and saw the massive wall of sand towering over them, barely a mile away.

"How far to the cave?" Naruto asked.

"Hold on," Hinata replied, activating her Byakugan and scanning ahead of them. "We'll have to go through the storm for about ten minutes."

Naruto nodded and they began to run again. After roughly five minutes, Naruto grabbed Hinata and dropped, the wind umping violently as the wall of sand slammed into them, along with a near solid wall of wind, the sand stinging them and dropping their visibility to next to nothing without Hinata's Byakugan. They stood, the wind ripping at every part of their bodies. Hinata began to run toward the cave, Naruto following her silhouette.

Just as Hinata shouted something about being close, Naruto heard something screaming over the wind. He leapt forward, grabbing Hinata then leaping into the air over a cultist, who had just leapt out of the sand at her. Naruto landed and set her on her feet then spun, blocking a kunai with his own and stabbing with the other. The cultist leapt back as two burst out of the sand on either side of Naruto, cords exploding from their arms and grabbing Naruto. At the same time, Hinata creamed as a familiar man with a stitched-together body, brown hair, white pants, and a huge black, three-bladed scythe with skulls on it leapt over Naruto with Hinata over his shoulder, cords binding her. Naruto's eyes locked with Kakuzu's blood red ones for a moment and Naruto instantly sensed a wave of pure evil, far exceeding anything Kakuzu had had before. One thing was clear. That was _not_ Kakuzu.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted, forming an imperfect Rasengan in his right hand with as much chakra as he could, blasting the two cultists restraining him and clearing the sand around himself enough to see Kakuzu. He sprinted after him, the first cultist being taken down by Naruto's clones. However, just as Naruto leapt at Kakuzu, all of his clones exploded and his vision went completely black, all feeling stopping for a moment. His vision returned and he looked up, finding himself in the sand in the eye of the sand storm, Kakuzu's retreating form fading in the sand on the far side.

"Hi...na...ta," Naruto croaked before darkness claimed his senses once more and the storm enveloped his body.

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	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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6

Naruto groaned, opening his eyes and seeing the inside of a room that looked to be made of sandstone. He looked around and saw a nurse putting an IV away.

"Where am I?" Naruto asked.

"Sunagakure Hospital," the nurse smiled. "Lord Kazekage found you in the desert and brought you back."

"What about Hinata?" Naruto asked, panicked. "Did he save Hinata?"

"Lord Kazekage only returned with you," the nurse stated. "Was there someone else?"

Naruto leapt up, grabbing his clothes and sprinting into the bathroom, changing out of his hospital gown quickly then jumping out the window, sprinting to Gaara's office.

When Naruto burst into the office, he suddenly found himself encased in sand. After a moment, the sand moved of his face and he was able to see Kankuro, Neji, Gaara, and Shion all watching him, all both curious about his rush and unimpressed by his intrusion.

"What?" Neji asked.

"How long was I out?" Naruto asked, panicked.

"Twelve hours, give or take," Gaara stated. "Why?"

"Kakuzu has Hinata!" Naruto shouted.

"He what!?" Neji spat, wheeling around on Naruto.

"He had the cult ambush us in the sandstorm then grabbed her and ran off while my clones were destroyed, and the combined exhaustion left me unconscious," Naruto explained.

"Why didn't you try to stop him?" Neji demanded.

"I did!" Naruto snapped. "There wasn't much I could do once my clones were destroyed!"

"We'll send shinobi to track Kakuzu," Gaara promised. "For the time being, be patient."

"I'm going with them," Naruto stated. "He wasn't someone to mess with before. Now, there was something...different about him. Like it was someone...no...some _thing_ else entirely. Something dangerous, even compared to Kakuzu. Something not human."

"If that's true, you're not going near him," Gaara stated. "We can't risk your death, or capture."

"I'm not sitting around while Hinata's in danger," Naruto spat.

"You don't have a choice," Gaara stated as the sand released naruto. "The sand still on your body allows me to restrain you at will. You are confined to the village. We will fine her, I promise."

Naruto glared at him a moment then turned to leave only for a wall of sand to block the door.

"One more thing," Gaara spoke up, walking over with Naruto's ruined pack. "I believe this is yours. We recovered everything that was in it as well."

Naruto nodded and took the pack, leaving and finding a hotel, paying for one night and going up to his room. He threw the pack on the bed and a pile of ruined paper bombs fell out, followed by the present from Hinata, which had a few rips but was mostly intact. He blinked, realizing that, in all the commotion, he had completely forgotten his own birthday.

He picked up the package but didn't open it. He wanted to wait until Hinata was there. Which meant he had to save her first. Naruto picked up the gift and sprinted out of the hotel, going to the nearest weapons and armor store. He got a new jacket, one completely black with an orange zipper, then got a dark grey plate mail flack jacket with pauldrons that stood straight out to his sides, plate mail shin guards, and a fresh stock of paper bombs, then left. He stopped in front of a coffee shop where Temari was sipping from a coffee cup while reading a report.

"Naruto?" Temari blinked. "It's good to see you up."

"I need you to get Gaara's sand off," Naruto said urgently. "Hinata's been kidnapped and the ninja going to save her are going to their deaths."

"So Gaara has you restricted while Hinata's in danger?" Temari asked. "He'll kill me, but Hinata needs you. But it's going to hurt."

"Just do it," Naruto ordered.

"Great Breakthrough!" Temari shouted, swinging her fan and blasting Naruto, a cloud of sand flying off of him.

Naruto pushed himself up and dusted himself off, wincing as his burned arm flared in pain. Then, he thanked her and sprinted out of the village and to the cave. The dead cultists were half buried off to one side. Naruto ran over to them and looked down at the sand as he replayed the fight in his head. He was able to remember which way the sand was blowing as Kakuzu, or rather whatever it was that took Hinata, fled. He used that as his guide, sprinting across the sand, noticing his footprints disappearing a few feet behind him.

"Guess I'm not following them," Naruto growled. "I'm coming Hinata.

He continued forward, sand beginning to blow around him. Finally he slowed to a stop, a group of nine cultists in front of him, each holding a large black single-bladed scythe with a spear head on the end of the shaft.

"Great," Naruto sighed, drawing a pair of kunai. "you fuckers again."

One charged and Naruto sent a clone to meet the cultist. The cultist slashed at the clone, the scythe sparking as both the combatants continued past each other. Just as the clone began to turn, the cultist windmilled the scythe and the scythe split the clone's front open wide. The clone exploded and a second exploded out of the sand. It slashed and the cultist blocked the first slash then smashed the clone skyward with the shaft. The clone exploded and Naruto sighed, readying himself.

"We are the elite of our Master's forces," the cultist stated. "We each have a different ability. Mine is a mix between heightened reflexes and a secret. Fight me to find out."

"Personally I'd rather kill you and be on my way, so if you'd all kindly hold still..." Naruto growled.

He charged and the cultist slashed at him. He blocked it, sparks flying off the blades before Naruto spun, driving the kunai at the side of the cultist's head. He leapt back, avoiding the kunai then lifted the bottom of the shaft and began to repeatedly jab it at him. Naruto began to avoid the point, pivoting out of the way again and again.

"You're fast," Naruto admitted. "But I'm impatient."

Naruto ducked under the shaft, stepping forward and slashing at the cultist. The cultist grinned as the kunai fell short. Naruto spun, slashing again, again falling short and missing by an inch. Naruto swore, jumping back and hurling several shuriken wrapped in paper bombs. They all landed around the cultist and exploded. A moment later, the cultist landed by the others, pulling off and dropping his burned cloak, revealing a black splint mail cuirass and greaves.

"Nice reflexes," Naruto growled as the other cultists shed their cloaks, revealing similar armor.

A second cultist stepped forward, tossing a burlap sack at Naruto's feet, several Suna shinobi's heads spilling out.

"We allowed a dozen to pass so the Master would have something to do besides play with the priestess impersonator," the cultist stated. "They're most likely there by now."

Naruto's vision blurred and something deep inside him hummed in amusement. Naruto charged at the second cultist and slashed at its face. It leaned back and Naruto caught the shaft of the scythe streaking backward in the corner of his eye. His kunai flashed down and the scythe blade crashed into it, launching Naruto skyward and blasting the kunai into a dozen pieces.

Naruto cursed, putting his other kunai away and drew the short-sword-sized chakra blade konoha had issued. He channeled his chakra through it and it formed two cross guard arms that bent upward at ninety degree angles and ended in points, and a mid-sized, western-style sword blade. As Naruto fell, the cultists jumped, slashing at him. Naruto blocked the scythe, flipping and kicking the cultist into the ground.

"You bastards are all going to die!" Naruto seethed as he landed beside the one he had kicked.

The cultists slashed at him and he knocked the blade aside then flipped the blade over and stabbed the cultist through the heat. The others all exchanged knowing looks and all exploded into masses of tentacles. Naruto took a step forward and sand exploded skyward between Naruto and the cultists, who all reconstructed. Naruto sighed, resting his face in his hand.

"I told you to stay in the village," Gaara stated.

"I'm going to save Hinata" Naruto said flatly.

"I know," Gaara said as the sand fell, revealing the retreating cultists. "But for now, we need to go back."

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"He contacted us," Gaara said.

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	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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7

"Naruto Uzumaki. I know it is not the Priestess I captured. That was intentional. I enjoyed seeing the look on your face when you saw that you would not be able to save her, but now I must allow her to serve a purpose. You will bring me the Priestess. In exchange, I will return to you your precious Hinata."

Naruto set the letter down, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, fighting back his rage. Shion and Gaara watched him carefully and Neji glared daggers into his back.

"What do you want to do?" SHion asked.

"Kill him," Naruto snarled.

"He won't show if you don't have her with you," Gaara stated. "Then Hinata will be even more in danger. You'll have to risk taking Shion."

"And I'll be the one protecting her," Neji stated. "We can't afford to have you fail like you did protecting Hinata. And you better pray we are able to save her."

Naruto shot him a death glare, then turned and walked away. He left Gaara's office and went to the edge of the village, sitting on the wall and watching the ea of sand ahead.

"Naruto," Tenten spoke up, landing behind him. "Don't mind Neji. He's just worried. "We all are."

Naruto nodded and left. He decided that he just wanted to sleep.

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Naruto put the tarp over the tent and then slipped into it, taking off his soaking wet cloak and jacket, then sat down beside Hinata. She sat in his lap, leaning sideways against his chest, head tucked under his chin. He wrapped his arms around her, tilting his head and kissing the top of hers.

"Thanks," Hinata smiled up at him. "For saving me. I never really said it."

"It's fine," Naruto smiled. "You know you don't need to say it."

Hinata smiled, reaching up and giving him a kiss, which he returned happily. After a moment, she pulled back and the entire world lurched into random motion.

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Naruto's eyes opened, but he saw nothing but one huge black smudge. His body was shaking, tears were flooding down his face, and he was sobbing in near deafening screams. He was sobbing so hard that he had woken himself up. He tried to stop but instead it simply got worse. He rolled over, pressing his face into his pillow, sobbing harder till. Then, eventually, he had cried himself back to sleep.

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	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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8

Gaara stepped out of cover and looked up.

A single cultist floated above them, a pair of massive cord masses acting as wings and two more as a pair of massive arms, each about twenty feet long and able to grow or shrink as needed.

"Why have you come?" Gaara asked. "We will bring the Priestess tomorrow."

The cultist swiped at Gaara, and the arm extended, crashing along the ground for a dozen yards before reaching Gaara. When the dust settled, Gaara was still exactly where he was with part of a cracked sand dome over him and a sand platform under his feet.

"I see," Gaara growled. "For me. You aren't the first."

Gaara raised his hand and a massive wall of sand shot past, crashing into the cultist. As the dust settled, Gaara's eyes widened. The cultist's wings had shielded it completely. Cords suddenly shot out of the ground under Gaara and Gaara leapt skyward as the cords exploded through the sand that had moved to shield him.

"So powerful," Gaara growled. "Then I don't need to waste energy on Sand Armor."

Gaara held his hand out to his side, all the sand leaving his body and forming Shukaku's Pike in his hand. Gaara spun it twice then leapt off his sand platform and over more cords. They swung around at him but he smashed them aside with the pike. More shot at him and he began to spin, expertly defending himself with the pike until the cultist flew straight at threw a massive cord punch at him and Gaara spun out of the way. It hit his gourd and the gourd exploded into sand, encasing the hand and attaching itself to the ground. When the cultist flew past Gaara, Gaara ducked under a wing, the pike laid across his back and carving a gash into the cultist's side. Gaara stood and turned in time for a wall of cords to crash into him as it exploded out of the cultist's wound. Gaara flipped and spun through the air, crashing down hard and looked up at the cultist. Cords now extended from most of its back, forming one massive tail of cords in place of his wings.

"Not a good sign," Gaara growled, standing and raising the pike. "Time to end this."

Gaara hurled it and sand shot up along both sides, blocking the Cultist's attempt to stop it, barely. Then, the pike exploded into the tail, blasting a hole in it and barely missing the cultist. Gaara narrowed his eyes as the cultist roared in rage, sounding every bit like the monster he looked like.

"Very Well," Gaara sighed. "It would seem meeting you away from the village was wise after all."

He crossed his arms and sand shuriken as wide at the points as Gaara was tall began to shoot out of the ground around Gaara and at the cultist. The cultist began to zip around avoiding them and Gaara adjusted his aim accordingly. Finally, a shuriken split the cultist diagonally. It crashed to the ground and Gaara waited. The ground below Gaara suddenly exploded skyward, launching him for the second time, Gaara using more sand to block the cords. It worked long enough for Gaara to crash down in the sand, then they continued at him. At the last second, a johyo wrapped around them, barely pulling them off course and saving Gaara.

"No," Gaara breathed, jumping up and looking toward the johyo's owner. "Matsuri. Why are you here? I met him out here so you couldn't be caught up in this."

"I won't let you be hurt," Matsuri stated.

Just then, the johyo snapped and the cords blasted across the ground in front of them both. Matsuri creamed and Gaara spun, firing a Sand shuriken at the newly restored and airborne cultist. The cultist moved his arm up into the way and the shuriken froze, Matsuri's unconscious face visible among the cords.

"Matsuri!" Gaara shouted as the shuriken crumbled.

"Be careful what you do next Kazekage," the cultist warned. "Her life depends on it."

Gaara raised his hand, his entire body trembling with rage and conflicting emotions. He knew that the cultist had to be stopped, but even as sand rose up around the cultist, he knew he wouldn't be able to sacrifice Matsuri. The sand fell as Gaara's will broke and his arm dropped to his side.

"Good," the cultist sneered. "Bring the Priestess and you may see this bitch again."

And then, a wall of sand shot up, blasting Gaara and launching him away. Gaara sat up, staring in disbelieving shock at where the cultist had been. The cultist had left after using whatever he had used to throw sand at Gaara. After all, he couldn't have control over the sand. That was impossible.

Gaara returned to the village quickly and reached Naruto's hotel room at the same time as Naruto finished putting his gear on.

"You can't stop me this time," Naruto stated.

"We're leaving now," Gaara snarled, rage in his voice. "I will save Matsuri."

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